


What Makes a Team

by IcyPanther



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Cave-In, Claustrophobia, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Garrison trio, Gen, Hunk (Voltron) Whump, Hurt Hunk (Voltron), Hurt Lance (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) Whump, Langst, Pidge | Katie Holt Whump, Platonic Relationships, Protective Lance (Voltron), Protective Pidge | Katie Holt, Whump, platonic hance, platonic plance, team punk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-02-28 23:37:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18766660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcyPanther/pseuds/IcyPanther
Summary: Lance has been feeling a little lonely of late. Allura’s off with Lotor, Shiro’s been keeping busy on his own and Hunk and Pidge are wrapped up in this whole “Team Punk” concept that has them holed up for hours in the lab. So when he’s invited to accompany the two geniuses on a resource gathering mission he couldn’t be happier and plans to make the best of it.And then everything goes wrong.They’re trapped, injured, and if blood loss doesn’t get Lance first then suffocation definitely will. They need a plan but Hunk is down for the count and Lance knows he’s no good for coming up with something of that caliber. But his team needs him and he’s got to think of something. Otherwise… this cave is about to become a tomb.





	What Makes a Team

**Author's Note:**

> **Timeline notes:** Mid-late season four  
>  **Warning notes:** None

“We have to go in _there?_ ” Hunk’s voice wavered on the last word and Lance wholeheartedly agreed with him.

The dark, narrow tunnel that led to the underground cavern was the last place he wanted to be too.

“Come on,” Pidge stepped forward, scanner in hand casting a pale green glow about the entrance. “It’s not that far.”

“How far is not that far?” Lance asked, hovering still on the edge where sunlight warmed the ground and air was fresh and plentiful and absolutely not the cloying, twisting darkness of the underground. His stomach gave an unpleasant lurch at just the thought.

Lance had never once considered himself claustrophobic until the whole incident with the castle trying to kill him.  And even though that had been _months_ ago Lance had never forgotten the terror of first being locked into a cryo-pod _—_ so small, so _dark —_ and then immediately after being trapped in the airlock and literal seconds away from being ejected into space.

He shivered and rubbed his hands over his arms even though it was anything but cold in the desert-like landscape behind them.

“Quarter mile, maybe,” Pidge answered, pushing her glasses up her nose as sweat tried to send them down. “The feedback I’m getting is pretty strong so maybe even a little sooner.”

“I dunno, Pidge,” Hunk looked apprehensive. “Coran said the ground here was pretty unstable already with the plate movement and once we start digging…”

“We’ll be careful,” Pidge promised. “We’ve come this far already. We _can’t_ just give up. Those crystals could be game changers, Hunk. We _need_ them.”

Hunk tapped his fingers together, an anxious habit he’d had since he was a kid, as he debated.

The crystals could be super important, that was true, if they worked as he and Pidge hoped as a conductor to increase the Balmeran crystals’ output. But they could just as easily not be compatible, and hence why the Galra hadn’t tried to harvest them themselves, but Pidge was insistent that the two of them could figure out how to make them work.

That insistence and previous successes had been enough to sway Allura into allowing them to attempt a retrieval despite their severe time crunch between Coalition duties and continued missions.

She had opened up a small window, an afternoon, for Hunk and Pidge to do so while the others handled Coalition affairs. Lance had asked, uncharacteristically hesitant, if he could go with them and Allura had granted the request, eyes softening ever so.

Hunk had felt a pang of guilt that he hadn’t invited Lance to go along with them first. He’d been spending more and more time with Pidge _—_ Team Punk they  had loudly nicknamed themselves complete now with monikered jackets when they worked on joint projects _—_ while Lance had been caught up in more of the diplomatic side of things and always seemed busy between that and trying still to bond with the Red Lion, who was much more resistant to Lance’s charm than Blue had ever been. Hunk knew Lance was enjoying himself with the Coalition duties, especially spending more time with Allura, but he realized he hadn’t hung out with Lance in… well, in a long while.

He’d been a really crappy best friend.

He’d tried to apologize and Lance had brushed it off with an easy grin. But as unintentionally distant as Hunk had been he had known Lance since they were kids and he could see that the smile did not reach his eyes.

Hunk had pulled Lance into a hug, not apologizing with words but holding him tight, and had been relieved as well as hit with guilt anew when Lance had returned it after a few moments, fingers gripping Hunk’s vest with a soft, muffled sob.

It was why Hunk had turned this excursion into not just another jargon filled project, but an actual outing, complete with a picnic lunch that they’d devoured a bit ago. And watching Lance smile wide and laugh fully, ocean eyes sparkling with happiness, as they’d talked and joked and swapped stories as they hiked across the flat (but very dry, crumbly and never ending) desert was enough of a success story of this trip for Hunk and the crystals would be the icing on the cake.

It was one of the big reasons why he hesitated himself at the mouth of the tunnel. Lance had never come outright and talked about his new aversion to dark, small spaces but the addition of a night light in Lance’s room and the way he would hobble about with a twisted ankle for a few days rather than spend a couple hours in the pod was telling enough.

Hunk was admittedly scared of many things and dark, underground tunnels with an already unstable outer surface was certainly up there, but seeing the way Lance’s eyes had widened as their signal led them to it and the way his feet had dragged even as he pushed himself forward was something else entirely.

He turned to look at Lance, whose lips were pressed in a thin line and his gaze focused with laser intensity on the cave.

“Lance, _hermano?”_ Hunk gave him a gentle nudge and Lance gave the barest jump. “What do you think?”

“These crystals are important, right?” he said after a moment, rocking back on his heels and mustering up a small smile. “And we did come all the way here. We could at least… take a look?”

“Lance gets it,” Pidge grinned, teeth bright against the gloom behind her. “C’mon, Hunk.”

“Okay, okay,” he sighed. “Please tell me you have a flash—”

Pidge had already rooted one out of her bag and clicked it on, momentarily blinding both boys.

“Oops,” she said as Lance loudly proclaimed he was blind and was rubbing vigorously at his eyes while Hunk was trying to blink the spots from his. She didn’t sound at all apologetic.

Hunk realized after a tick that this was Pidge’s way of trying to lighten (and he didn’t mean literally although ha, that was a good pun, he’d have to remember that) the situation and as she caught his eye she jerked her head in Lance’s direction with a knowing nod. He gave her a grateful smile even as he yanked the flashlight out of her hands. Pidge let him with a laugh.

Pidge knew she wasn’t always the most observant of emotional cues and Lance was a difficult read in most circumstances as he tended to hide any actual fears and insecurities behind bravado that for a long time she had thought was his dominant personality, but she wasn’t obtuse.

After Hunk had re-directed her twice while on their walk from talking about their projects and experiments to first video games (of which he had no interest in) and then to asking about Matt and prompting her to talk about a fun childhood memory she’d caught on and been rewarded with Lance’s laughter and smiles becoming more and more genuine.

She hadn’t even realized how long it had been since she’d seen Lance actually laugh without any sort of reservation.

Weekly video game nights were going to be a thing again, she decided, along with a few more forays than usual out of her workspace in her spare free time. Saving the universe may be priority number one, but she couldn’t let it consume her.

With her attention now turned onto Lance’s less noticeable cues she became aware of his reluctance to enter the tunnel and tried to adjust accordingly even though she really _really_ wanted to go in herself. And even though Lance’s answer wasn’t as enthusiastic as she’d hoped, he was still willing to go into the cavern and find the crystals.

With that go ahead now she needed to focus on their surroundings because as Hunk had noted, this area was rather unstable and they had to be alert. It was why they’d walked all the way here rather than taking a Lion as the ground was susceptible to tremors and the high-powered thrusters could destabilize the planet _—_ another reason the Galra likely hadn’t tried very hard to find the crystals themselves _—_ and the most stable spot to land the supply pod had been nearly opposite to the crystals’ signature.

The tunnel was narrow, forcing them to traverse single-file. The air was cooler, almost too cold after the dry desert heat outside, but Pidge appreciated it. She was pretty sure her skin was attempting to freckle even with the huge sunhat Allura had forced upon her and she could feel the beginnings of sunburn despite all of her precautions. Neither Lance nor Hunk seemed to be suffering the same and she stuck her tongue out at Hunk’s broad back in front of her.

They were quiet as they walked, their footfalls echoing, and even those enough to send rivulets of rock dust down some of the walls. Lance was practically stepping on her heels and kept murmuring apologies each time he actually did so.

Pidge finally reached out a hand behind her, no need to follow the scanner closely as they were stuck in the tunnel, and grabbed hold of his.

“Pidge?” his voice was higher than normal even as long fingers wrapped tightly about her own.

“It’s dark back there,” she said quietly. “Don’t want you to get lost.”

He let out a soft snort but didn’t call her on it. “ _Gracias,”_ he whispered instead.

Lance’s cheeks were warm, sun and embarrassment but mostly he was touched and clung a little tighter to Pidge’s hand. She was right though on one front. It _was_ dark as all the light was up front with Hunk minus the glow of Pidge’s data tracker, and with the way the tunnel wound and dipped Lance swore he could feel it closing in the deeper they walked.

The tunnel widened significantly as they progressed and a few turns later, all abreast although Lance was still gripping Pidge’s hand, they found the crystals.

“Whoa,” Lance’s quiet awe echoed off the high cavern walls.

“You can say that again,” Hunk whispered.

“Whoa.”

Pidge let out a laugh and elbowed Lance in the side, relieved when he winked at her, the earlier fear having vanished with both their discovery and no doubt the large chamber.

The crystals were…

_Beautiful._

They looked like quartz deposits, long and angular, and glowing with the barest hint of pink over the white and in the light of the flashlight they shimmered as though covered in glitter.

“Forget science projects, let’s talk jewelry,” Lance grinned. “Allura would _love_ these as earrings.”

Pidge reached out a careful hand to one of the small clusters sprouting by her feet. “I wouldn’t mind a necklace,” she admitted, even the faint glow from her tech causing the crystal to sparkle. She tapped a hand excitedly against her thigh. “It’s actually a really great idea. Depending on the how we can calibrate them they could be weaponized and we could have them for those Coalition dinners _—_ you know the ones with no weapons allowed? _—_  and no one would know.” She turned to the boys. “Lance, you could have a necklace too and Hunk I think maybe a ring? We could—”

“Easy, easy,” Hunk chuckled although he was nodding. “Let’s just get some to take back for now.”

That was easier said than done.

The crystals were firmly rooted in the cavern floor and they could not afford to be anything but careful as even Hunk’s heavier footfalls had sent a scattering of rock dust down from the ceiling and Lance’s smile was not the only one that had fallen.

He’d been forced to remain on the outskirts as Pidge and Lance had carefully traversed deeper into the field of crystals to obtain a larger sample.

Despite the cooler temperature in cavern Lance could feel sweat beading on his forehead as he and Pidge worked to free the crystal, which Pidge described as icebergs _—_ there was much more to them below the surface _—_ with the help of some weird laser gizmo of Hunk’s design. The final crystal they freed was nearly a foot tall and went from two inches wide at the tip to nearly eight at the bottom.

“It’s heavy,” Lance grunted as Pidge picked up the smaller ones that had come free with the cluster.

“It’s perfect,” she countered. “Between it and these samples,” she shook her bag with a dull clinking, “we can run all of our tests and if they come back successful we know just where to find more. Oh, I can’t _wait.”_

Lance let out a small laugh of shared joy. He didn’t really get Pidge or Hunk’s projects and the science behind them, but he loved seeing them both so happy and excited, even if when they got really into something he tended to become background noise. It was fine though, really. Team Punk was an unstoppable, awesome genius force and he certainly didn’t want to get in the way.

Pidge was still rambling away as they picked out a path back to Hunk, but Lance tuned in when he heard his name.

“—help of course, a blaster would be the best thing to test them with for the specs and—”

“Wait,” Lance interrupted. “You want me to… to help? With this?”

Pidge paused and something flitted across her face that he couldn’t quite place before she smiled, soft and bright and illuminated by the sparkling crystals. “Absolutely. You’re integral to the success of this experiment. If… if that’s okay?”

Lance smiled in kind as something warm bloomed in his chest. “Absolutely.”

They made it back to Hunk without incident and after redistributing all of the new weight and equipment (with Hunk taking charge of the large crystal to Lance’s relief) they headed back into the tunnel.

The glow from the crystals, both the large one in Hunk’s arms and the dimmer versions inside the bags, lightened up the previously dark space and despite the narrow walls Lance found himself this time walking the path without any issue in the same lineup as before.

They were nearly to the edge of the tunnel when the ground shifted below them.

“It’s okay,” Pidge told them as Hunk yelped and Lance sucked in a harsh breath, feet braced. “The whole planet is on top of plates, remember? Just give it a tick.”

They had felt a few tremors while walking to the crystal location but those had been little minor blips.

This…

This felt stronger.

Lance hoped it was just because they were still somewhat underground.

Rock dust fell from the wall and sent a hazy cloud into the already tight space.

The shaking increased.

A _crack_ split a line up one of the walls just to Lance’s left, rock creaking dangerously and he swore the ceiling was shifting lower.

His heart lodged itself somewhere in his throat.

Oh _Dios._

It was going to come down.

“Pidge,” Hunk’s voice was high and tight.

Lance wasn’t even capable of speech.

“Run,” Pidge’s quiet murmur was swallowed by another sharp crack. “Run!” she screamed.

No one needed told twice.

They were still forced to go single file, Hunk too large to squeeze past, but the opening was in sight, not even twenty yards out.

The walls began to bow inward, chunks of ceiling beginning to loosen above.

They weren’t going to make it.

The realization was like a shot of ice in Lance’s veins.

They weren’t going to make it.

A rock dropped free, smashing into Hunk’s back, sending him stumbling with a breathless yell.

Pidge screamed as a piece of wall broke off and struck her shoulder.

They weren’t going to make it.

Oh _Dios_ they weren’t going to make it.

The sunlight ahead was fading, rocks falling over the entrance and dust billowing and a _rumble_ so deafening that Lance couldn’t even hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

With one last _roar_ the ceiling of the tunnel splintered.

Lance shouted and launched himself forward, wrapping his arms about Pidge from behind to shield her as they went to the floor.

He could at least try to protect her.

Maybe… maybe she could make it out.

Something _sharp_ and _heavy_ struck him and then _pain pain pain pain pain pain—_

Everything went dark.

xxx

Lance awoke to a hand patting his cheek and his name.

“—ance, c’mon, please. Please wake up. Lance, _please.”_

His eyes fluttered open.

Blackness greeted him and he felt his chest hitch. A moment later though there was a faint pink-white glow and Pidge’s face swam into view; her glasses and hat missing, blood fresh on her forehead and all of her covered in dirt.

She met his gaze and her lips trembled up into a smile. “Oh thank god. Oh thank God. Lance, can you hear me?”

“P-Pidge?”

He sounded like he’d gargled with sandpaper. He coughed, weakly, and felt a sharp lance through his chest. The cough turned into a gasp and he dry-heaved as _pain_ overtook his senses and _he couldn’t breathe._

He came back to the sensation of Pidge’s small hands grasped about his own and the sound of her pleas and shuddering sobs and that was enough for him to shove back the hot flare emanating from his chest.

Pidge was _scared._

That was not okay.

“—kay, okay? You’re going to be fine. It’s going to be okay. Just stay awake, okay? Here, here, look at this.”

Her hands retracted from his and the sudden sense of loss hit deep before one of the small crystals was plunked down mere inches from his nose and the spot of light brought back the warmth.

It also brought back the memory.

The tremors. The cave. It had collapsed.

Lance choked on his next breath and felt hot fire in his chest again. Pidge made a shushing noise but he ignored it.

Hunk?

Where was Hunk?

“Hunk?” he gasped out.

Please.

Please, Hunk couldn’t be…

“He’s here,” Pidge said quietly. “He… he won’t wake up though.” A sob pulled free from her chest. “He won’t wake up.”

She had come to, no idea how long she had been unconscious for, pinned beneath Lance who was lying so so still. She’d begged, pleaded, for him to wake up, and the feeling of something wet and warm against her back had only fueled her desperation as other than some scrapes she could feel from where she’d struck the floor she didn’t feel hurt.

That meant Lance was.

Because Lance had protected her with his own body.

She’d pried herself free, hands scrabbling against fallen rocks as the air echoed and shifted terrifyingly around her and dust billowed with the only light being the faintest glimmer from the crystal Hunk had been carrying that had been almost entirely buried in the rubble.

Hunk had almost been entirely buried too, just his right foot visible.

She’d had to leave Lance for the moment, comforting herself in the fact he was breathing, he had air, and scrambled to pull the rocks free from Hunk, having to force herself to go slow as the tunnel creaked dangerously around them.

The rocks at least hadn’t been very large, and she was fueled by adrenaline as she shoved and piled them away until she had exposed all of Hunk. The back of his head was bloody, hair already thick with it, and despite how much she’d called his name and shaken his shoulder he had not awoken. A faint puff of air had brushed her hand when she put it above his mouth and that was going to have to be enough for now.

She’d turned her attention back to Lance…

And found that he’d been _impaled_ by a piece of the ceiling, a sharpened rock spire. That had been the wet feeling; the rock had pierced his back through his chest just below his rib cage, and his blood had soaked into her shirt.

She’d almost been sick and only swallowed it back on sheer will.

Pidge had to leave the spire as it was because it was the only thing keeping Lance’s insides inside him, the back of it sticking up like a short flag pole that rose up and down each of Lance’s breaths. She’d managed to free his feet where they were pinned beneath more rocks and shifted off the smaller pieces, begging for him to wake up.

She almost felt guilty now that he was and clearly in a lot of pain. His breathing too was starting to pick up tempo in a way they could not afford with their limited supply as ocean eyes darted liked a cornered animal about the small space.

She’d been getting hints from this venture that Lance had developed some form of claustrophobia and this confirmed it in the worst way.

She squeezed his hand, trying to tamp down her own panic.

It wouldn’t help either of them.

“It’s going to be okay,” she repeated, to both of them.

How, she wasn’t sure, but they were Paladins of Voltron. A team of literal superheroes. They’d figure this out.

Somehow.

Lance shifted on the ground, a low moan torn from his throat.

“Don’t move,” Pidge told him. “You’re… you’re hurt.”

No need to go into details.

Lance didn’t listen.

“Lance! Stop!”

The rocks around them groaned.

Pidge’s mouth snapped shut and Lance abruptly stilled.

He tilted his head up though, his gaze searching her face and lighting on the cut.

“I’m okay,” she reassured. “Promise. You…” She squeezed his hand. “You saved me. Lance, you…” She could feel tears stinging her eyes. “You _idiot.”_

Lance’s lips quirked up into a smile. He knew he would do it again in a heartbeat.

He would always protect his family.

Even if it hurt.

And _Dios,_ this _hurt._ He was trying hard not to look because he’d just freak himself out and then freak Pidge out and he’d already done that enough. That and it was already hard to breathe without contorting himself to look down; the darkness and walls pressing in and air bitter and cloudy.

They didn’t have much time. He knew that much.

He especially didn’t; already he could feel a tremor to his limbs and a haziness trying to take up residence from no doubt blood loss.

“We… we need to get out,” he said quietly, throat prickling painfully and he tried desperately not to cough as his insides lurched.

“Any ideas?”

“You’re the genius.”

“Ha ha,” Pidge deadpanned. That was Lance’s go-to answer for nearly anything when it came to intelligence items and she had at first laughed and punched his shoulder. Now though she could hear what was not being said. _You’re the genius… and I’m not._ _And therefore my opinion doesn’t matter._

She didn’t like it.

“Seriously,” she told him. “Ideas? The rocks at the front are too big for me to move.” That and if they weren’t careful they could send the whole thing caving in.

“Could I?” Lance asked.

“Maybe on a good day,” she replied.

Today was not a good day.

“...how bad is it?” She could hear his wince, his fear, and she squeezed his hand again.

“Not good. But… but you’re gonna be okay. I promise.”

“Pinky swear?” Lance offered up, shifting his other hand carefully forward. Pidge rolled her eyes although her grin gave her away.

“Pinky swear. You’re gonna be fine.”

“And we’re gonna get out,” Lance said, shaking their conjoined fingers. “My promise.”

“ _All_ of us,” Pidge emphasized.

She felt something inside her loosen when Lance breathed out, “ _sí,”_ and nodded his head.

Good. She’d already experienced enough of Lance’s self-sacrificing tendencies today.

Quiet reigned as she wracked her brain for _something._ The rocks were too large to move, they had no weapons to blast them apart, the comm unit she’d brought wasn’t working underground and the others wouldn’t worry until far later in the evening.  

Lance broke the silence.

“What about the crystals?”

Pidge frowned. “The crystals?”

“You… you guys wanted to use them as a conductor, right?” He let out a weak cough, tasting metal and swallowed it all down. Not now.

Panic later. Not yet.

“The laser thing,” he continued. “It runs on a Balmera crystal. Couldn’t you amplify it, maybe? Cut through the rocks?”

Pidge’s eyes widened.

They’d had to calibrate the laser so it didn’t disrupt the crystals signature and cause a chain reaction when they removed them. While they still had no idea how exactly all of it worked (yet) she and Hunk had studied the idea of the crystals when they built the laser. If she were to take off the safety so to speak…

It could blow them all up.

It could also power the laser beyond the small burst it had been designed for and clear the way.

It was their best chance.

And Lance had been the one to see it.

“Lance, you _genius,”_ she let out a delighted laugh.

His cheeks darkened to a pink that had nothing to do with the crystal glow and Pidge grinned wider.

The laser had been in Hunk’s shoulder pack and to her relief it had remained intact. She brought it back with one of the smaller crystals next to Lance, who watched with half-lidded eyes as she finagled the crystal into the mechanism, twisting wires and attaching cords.

“I have no idea what you’re doing,” Lance admitted with a weak chuckle as he watched her fingers.

If Pidge hadn’t been here…

They’d never have even had a chance.

“And I have no idea how you make half of those shots,” she countered, knotting a wire, hearing the longing, the sadness in his tone that he couldn’t quite hide. Her gaze met his, serious. “ _All_ of us have some amazing talents. And you,” she poked his nose and he wrinkled it, “are amazing, Lance. I,” she gestured at herself, “wouldn’t be alive if you hadn’t…”

She’d have been crushed to death without him.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

 _“Gracias,”_ he whispered too.

“All done,” she said a moment later. She staggered back to her feet, starting to feel the effects of the loss of oxygen. “I… I don’t know if this’ll work, but…”

“It’ll work,” Lance said confidently.

She felt buoyed by it.

“We’re gonna need to go quick,” she said. “It could send the rest collapsing. Can… can you move?”

“What, now I’m allowed to?” he teased although he groaned right after as he shifted. He staggered, somehow with willpower Pidge admired anew, to his feet, catching himself on the wall.

“R-ready,” he gasped. He pointedly didn’t look down as he felt something _move_ inside him and fire flare again on both his front and back. He ignored it as best he could.

“We need Hunk too,” she said.

How was this going to work again?

Lance though was already making his way over to Hunk, stomach clenching at how _still_ Hunk was.

“We’re gonna get out, _hermano,_ ” he promised quietly. “I’ve got you.” And saying so he painfully bent down and hooked his hands about Hunk’s ankles, ignoring once more the hot fire that tore at his chest and back even as he let out a ragged breath of pain.

Pidge saw where he was going and helped guide Hunk’s legs so they were braced on Lance’s hips, and she secured one of the packs behind Hunk’s head as best she could as he already had a head injury and braining him on the floor was not a good idea.

“Okay,” Pidge steadied her makeshift laser turned hopefully cannon at the rubble blocking them from the entrance. “Here we go.”

She pressed the button.

Pink light _exploded_ outwards and the rocks were _disintegrated_ in an instant, blinding sunlight flooding in.

The walls groaned.

“Go!” Pidge yelped even though Lance was already lurching forward.

Pidge stayed behind them, re-firing the laser at the crumbling walls, blasting pieces away that were trying to impede their escape.

Ticks later they were outside and the rest of the entrance crumbled back down behind them, trapping all of the crystals that they would likely never be able to get to again.

Pidge didn’t care at all.

Lance collapsed to his knees with a harsh gasp and Pidge sank wearily down at Hunk’s side.

Glazed brown eyes stared up at her.

“Hunk!”

Lance whirled around at her exclamation and his eyes widened and his lip trembled.

“H-Hunk. _Hermano._ Can… can you hear me?”

Could he understand?

“‘s sunny,” Hunk mumbled, eyes squinting shut. He patted the ground, smile tugging up his face still. “G...good job.” He went quiet then but his chest was clearly rising and his breaths were strong.

Lance let out a choked sob of relief that morphed back to a groan.

“Lie down,” Pidge ordered, her own heart fit to burst even as she scrambled for the comms to contact the castle, and this time Lance listened, angling himself alongside Hunk and holding tight to Hunk’s hand.

They’d made it out.

“We did it,” Lance told Pidge with a too pale face but a tight, relieved smile as she joined them on the ground a minute later.  She took Lance’s other hand in her own, feeling the faint tremor and brushed her thumb across it.

“We did,” she echoed softly. “Castle’s en route and Coran’s prepping pods.”

Lance winced.

“I’ll stay with you,” she said, squeezing his hand. “Team Plunk forever.”

He blinked. Plunk? But that meant…

His lips twitched up and he could feel tears stinging his eyes that had nothing to do with pain. “Team Plunk, huh? I… I like it.”

Pidge matched his smile. “I do too.”

Team Plunk was made up of them all.

And that made it the best in the whole universe.

**Author's Note:**

> This was my piece for the VLD Whump Zine “If You Need Me” after I was asked to do something with the Garrison Trio. I actually have done very little with just these three so this was a lot of fun and the proceeds are going to a great cause! Thank you to everyone who supported the zine!
> 
> If you enjoyed the fic, please please do leave a comment below detailing what you liked about it (the small details make my day!) Emotional support and validation is super important and appreciated and your comments mean the world. **_Please_ don’t just read and run! Leave a comment! Thank you!**


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